Ticket issuing machine



Aug. 19 58 F. R. A. 'NEWNHAM 2,845,886

. TICKET ISSUING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed 001:. 18, 1955 I n uehlor FRANK REUBEN ALBERT NEWNHAM I A Item e ys 1958 F. R. A. NEWNHAM 2,845,886

TICKET'ISSUING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 18, 1955 I Inventor v FRANK REUBEN ALBERT NEWNHAM Attorneys F. R. A. NEWNHAM- TICKET xssumc MACHINE Aug. 5, 1958 Filed Oct. 18. 1955 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Inventor FRANK REUBEN'ALBER? NEWNH'AM Attorneys g- 1958 F. R. A. NEWNHAM I 2,845,886

TICKET ISSUING MACHINE Filed- Oct. 18, 1955 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Inventor FRANK REUBEN ALBERT NEWNHAM A ttorn eys F. R. A. NEWNHAM TICKET ISSUING MACHINE Aug. 5, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 18, 1955 fiw ' Attorneys Aug. 5, 1958 F. R. A. NEWNHAM TICKET ISSUING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed 0 st. 18, 1955 l n ventor I; FRANK Rsussu ALBERT Nswunm A ttorneya k TICKET ISSUING MACHINE Frank Reuben Albert Newnham, NcwHythe, Maidstone, England, assignor to Medway Paper Sacks Limited, London, England, a British company Application October 18, 1955, Serial No. 541,286

Claims priority, application Great Britain October 19, 1954 6 Claims. (Cl. 112-11) This invention is concerned with improvements in or relating to ticket issuing machines.

It is frequently necessary when sacks or bags are filled with flour, cereals, sugar, other foodstufis, chemicals and like substances for the manufacturer or packer to provide attached to each bag or sack a ticket or label having thereon appropriate information such, for instance, as the makers or suppliers name, a serial number, a date or like particulars. It is usual for sacks or bags to be filled with such products by various machines which operate, to agreater or less extent, automatically in that an empty sack or bag is presented to a filling machine by an operator whereafter filling and closing of the sack or bag is carried out. Usually the filled sack or bag moves on a conveyor to a sewing machine where the open end is sewn up, and in cases where a label or ticket is required for the sack or bag it is the practice for an operator serving the sewing machine to feed a ticket by handinto themachine as the end of the sack or bag is being sewn.

It is an object of this invention to provide a ticket issuing machine which in association with a sack or bag sewing machine serves automatically to deliver tickets individually to a sack or bag the end of which is being sewn.

According to the present invention there is provided a ticket issuing machine adapted to be associated with a sack or bag sewing machine and comprising actuating mechanism operable in response to a sack or bag entering the sewing head of a sewing machine, meansfor feeding forward and cutting off one ticket length from a reel of tickets and a delivery member incorporating means for positively engaging and conveying cut-01f tickets to the sewing head of said sewing machine.

The actuating mechanism may comprise a trip memberor other release mechanism disposed at the entry to the sewing head of a sewing machine and serving when a sack or bag enters said sewing head directlyor indirectly to initiate operation of said means for feeding forward and cutting oif one ticket length. We prefer, however, to provide a switch in circuit with a solenoid, the armature of which solenoid actuates a linkage serving to set said feeding and cutting means in operation when the entry of a sock or bag into the sewing head operates said switch and thus said solenoid, return mechanism such as for instance spring means serving to return said "linkage to its starting position after each operation of said switch and solenoid.

Machines according to this invention are preferably driven by an electric motor and we prefer to provide for said motor to transmit a continuous drive to a main shaft, clutch ,means being provided between said main shaft and said feeding and cutting oif means, said actuating mechanism serving to cause driving engagement of said clutch means.

Separate ticket feeding and ticket cutting means are provided and any desired transmission between said clutch and said feeding and cutting means may be provided.

Preferably, however, .a driven member of said clutch States Patent means includes a ticket feeding strip which serves, when drive is transmitted to said driven member, tofeed forward one ticket length. Said driven member preferably also carries cam means which serve, immediately after the ticket length has been fed forward, to actuate a cutting knife to cut oif either'that one ticket length or a ticket length preceding it.

The said delivery member is in the form of a channel or chute having endless belt means'extending therealong which serve to engage cut-off tickets and deliver them into the sewing head. The said delivery member is preferably pivotally mounted with respect to the machine in order'to enable tickets delivered thereby to be appropriately positioned with respect to a sack being sewn. The said delivery member may for instance comprise two channel members arranged parallel to each other and each carrying one. or more driven endless belts, tickets being, in operation, carried between the belts in each channel member, said belt-s being driven from said clutch means and thus-feeding forward a cut off ticket only in response to the entry of a sack into the sewing head.

The said delivery member may be of any desired length and'preferably is of such length that during operation it-will be carrying a plurality e. g. 3 or 4 cut-off ticket lengths. ready for presentation in turn to the sewing head'as successive sacks enter said sewing head, further ticket lengths will of course be cut off said supply reel and passed to said delivery member as each sack enters said head.

In order that'the invention may be well understood, one preferred embodiment by way of example only will now be describedin -fur-ther..detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a plan view in diagrammatic form of a machine according to the invention associated with .a sack sewing machine,

Figure 2 is a planview of the machine shown in Figme l with its top plate removed,

Figure 3 is a front elevation-of Figure 2 with the solenoid removed,

Figure -4 is a section on the line IV'IV of Fig-ureZ showing-the clutch unit,

Figure .5 is a section -on line VV of Figure 4,

Figure :6 is a section on line VI-VI-of Figure 4,

Figure 7 is a detail sectional plan view of the ticket cutting means,

Figure 8 is a sectional plan-yiew'on line VIIL-VIII of Figure 9 showing the ticket delivery member, :and

Figure 9 is a secton on the line IX-IX of Figure 8.

A ticket issuing machine according to this invention vcomprises a base platform adapted to be mounted adjacent a sack sewing machine and carrying an electric motor transmitting drive via a reduction gear to a main drive shaft.

:Referring to Figure 1 a sack sewing machine 10f any desired kind has an entry 2 to a sewing head into which sacks to be sewn arefed. A pivoted bracket 3. on ;the

machine 1 carries a ticket .or. label issuing machine 4,, which is mounted on the bracket 3 by a support bracket 5.- The ticket issuing machine 4 has a ticket delivery membero which extends intothe entry 2 todeliver tickets to a sack as their open ends are being sewn. Disposed at any convenient place in the'path .of sacks entering the sewing'rnachine is a:switch.7 which can be operated man- .ually but is preferably operated automatically by a sack entering the sewing head. Switch 7 serves when closed to complete a main supply circuit to a solenoid 8 on the issuing machine 4 through a main switch 9. Switch '7 is providedwith spring means (not shown) which cause it to open and break the circuit after a sack has passed through the sewing head.

The machine 4 has a base plate and a top plate 11 which carry the supporting bracket 5. An electric motor 12 and a reduction gear 13 disposed on top plate 11 serve to transmit drive to a main drive shaft 14. The said main shaft 14 passes through a clutch unit 15 and in operation is in continuous rotation.

The clutch unit 15 (Figs. 4, 5 and 6) comprises a clutch centre or cage 16 and a clutch driven member 17. The said cage 16 carries three rollers 18 spaced equally around the cage and the inner surface of the clutch driven member 17 has three grooves or recesses 19 which receive said three rollers 18. The relative dimensions of the rollers 18, the driven member 17 and grooves 19 are such that when the cage 16 is restrained from rotation, as will be described, the rollers 18 will rotate in said grooves 19 and no drive will be transmitted from the main shaft 14 to the driven member 17. The sides of said grooves 19 in the direction of rotation of said main shaft are so shaped as to provide tapered or restricted spaces between the driven member 17 and the shaft 14 so that when said n cage 16 is free to rotate the said rollers 18 will become wedged in said spaces and thus drive is transmitted from the motor 12 to the said driven member 17.

At the side of said base plate 10, solenoid 8 is mounted and is connected to the switch member 7 disposed at the entry to the sewing head of sack sewing machine 1. The armature 20 of said solenoid 8 is connected to one end of a first link 21 pivoted intermediate its ends at 22.

The other end of said first link is pivotally connected to a second link 23 which extends longitudinally of the base plate 10 to a point adjacent the clutch 15. The end of said second link 23 remote from the first link 21 has a recess 24 cut in its side. A clutch stop member in the form of a bell crank lever 25 is pivotally mounted with respect to the base plate 10 at 26, and has an abutment or tooth 27 in its side which when the machine is at rest engages a corresponding abutment or dog 28 on the clutch cage 16 and thus restrains rotation of the cage 16. The end of the arm 25a of the bell crank lever 25 carrying said abutment 27 has a cam surface 29 formed thereon which enables the arm to mate with the said recess 24 in the said second link 23.

Normally the said arm 25a of the bell crank lever and the second link 23 are approximately at right angles to each other. Within the right angle an anchor past 30 is provided on the base plate 10 which serves as an anchorage for two return springs one of which (31) is connected to the arm 25b of the bell crank lever Whilst the second spring 32 is connected to a cam follower pin 33 on the said second link 23.

The top plate 11 carries on its undersurface a linkage guide plate or camsurface 34 so disposed that during all movements of the linkage the cam follower pin 33 on the said second link 23 will be in contact with said surface 34.

On the base plate 10 there is a bracket 35 which carries a spindle 36 carrying a reel 37 of printed, numbered or appropriately marked tickets, said reel being rotatably mounted thereon. Extending along the base plate ticket guide channels 38 are provided which serve to receive the strip of tickets 39 from said reel 37 as they are drawn through the machine under the influence of ticket feeding means to a cutting position 40. At the inlet to the guide channels 38 a tensioning roller 41 is provided to maintain tension in the strip of tickets 39.

The clutch driven member 17 carries on its outer surface a ticket feeding strip 42 of length equal approximately to the length of a ticket said strip 42 being knurled, serrated or otherwise roughened to enable it to grip and feed forward the ticket strip 39 which in operation is pressed against it by a pivotally mounted presser roller 43, carried on an arm 44 mounted on base plate 10 and urged in a ticket engaging direction by spring 45.

The said base 10 also carries ticket cutting means (Fig. 7) which comprise a dead knife 46 and a movably mount- 4 ed cooperating blade 47 adapted to be moved in a cutting direction by means of a bell crank lever 48 operated by a cam surface 49 (Figs. 5 and 6) formed on said clutch driven member 17.

The movable blade 47 carries an angle bracket 50 in which is pivotally mounted an arm 51 which carries a presser roller 52 which serves to engage cut 011 ticket lengths as will be described.

At the end of the base plate 10 remote from said reel carrying spindle 36, a ticket delivery member 53 (Figs. 8 and 9) is mounted. This delivery member comprises two channel-like members 54, facing each other. One of said members 54 carries two endless belts 56 extending along its length whilst the other 55 has one endless belt 57 disposed intermediate the belts 56 so that in. operation cut oil tickets as indicated at 53 may be held between said two belts% and said one belt 57 and be conveyed along the delivery member 53 by movement of said belts. Drive to said belts 56 and 57 is provided by sprockets 59, 60 from a shaft 61 which is connected by a chain drive 62 to a sprocket 63 carried by said clutch driven member 17 so that only when said solenoid 8 is energised by a sack entering the sewing head will said delivery member 53 operate to feed a ticket 553 forward.

The delivery member 53 is pivotally mounted with respect ot the base plate 10 so that the delivery point may be correctly positioned with respect to any sack sewing machine and a stay 64 of extensible length is provided whereby it canbe locked in a desired position. Adjacent the entry to the delivery member 53, a guide plate or finger 65 carried by arm 51 is provided to direct a cut off ticket into the delivery member 53. Tickets cut off by knife 47 are fed via said guide plate or finger 65 to the delivery member 53 by rollers 52 and 66. Roller 66 is mounted on shaft 61 and drives belts 56 and thus rotates whenever the clutch driven member 17 rotates whilst presser roller 52 is carried by the moving knife blade 47 so that as the knife travels forward its presses the leading edge of the ticket to be severed against the roller 66 so that upon being severed the cut-off ticket 58 is passed into the delivery member 53.

When the machine is to be operated a strip 39 of ticket is fed into the guide channels 38 from said reel 37 of tickets and drawn through the machine until the end of the strip is at the cutting point 40 of said knife. The motor 12 is then switched on and the main shaft 14 is then continuously rotated. The abutment 28 on the clutch cage 16 is however engaged by the cooperating abutment 27 on the above mentioned clutch stop bell crank lever 25 and thus rotation of the clutch driven member 17 is prevented. Immediately upon entry of a sack to the sewing head of sewing machine 1 the solenoid 8 is energised and actuates said first and second links 21, and 23 so as to pivot the bell crank lever 25 and withdraw its abutment or tooth 27 from the path of the abutment 28 on the clutch cage 16. A quick coupling spring 67 is connected betwen the clutch driven member 17 and the cage 16, and upon the cage 16 being freed this spring 67, together with the friction between the cage rollers 18 and the main shaft 14, rotates the cage 16 until the rollers 18 make driving engagement with the clutch driven member 17. The ticket feeding strip 42 on the driven member 17 then engages the strip of ticket 39 and feeds it towards the cutting position 40 at the same time drawing a further length off the reel 37. By this feeding movement the leading end of the strip 39 is fed forward beyond the cutting position 40, to a point where it is ready to be engaged between the two rollers 52 and 66 for passage into the delivery member 53. The rear end of the first ticket length will then be at the cutting position 40.

The pivoting of the bell crank lever 25 to free the clutch is effected by longitudinal movement of the said second link 23, which rotates the bell crank lever 25 in a counterclockwise direction. This movement causes the cam follower pin 33 on said second link 23 to ride along the inclined cam surface 34 mounted from top plate 11 which causes the said second link 23 to be pivoted in a counterclockwise direction about its connection to said first link 21 which brings about disengagement of the cam surface 29 on the arm 25a of the bell crank lever 25 from the recess 24 in the said second link 23. Immediately the arm 25a of the bell crank lever is freed from the restraint of the said recess 24, the said lever 25 is returned to its initial position by its associated return spring 31, a bufier post 68 being mounted on the base plate to limit the return movement of the bell crank lever 25. The said arm 25a of the bell crank lever is then again positioned so that its abutment or detent 27 will arrest movement of the clutch cage 16 after one revolution until a fresh sack entering the sewing head re-energises the solenoid 8. Passage of the sack beyond the said switch 7 at the sewing head allows the switch to open and de-energises the solenoid 8 whreupon the said second link 23 is again returned to its starting position by its return spring 32, and due to the guide plate or cam surface 34 and the cam follower pin 33 remaining in contact reengages the cam surface 29 on the arm 25a of the bell crank lever 25 in the recess 24 of the said second link 23.

The said clutch driven member 17 also carries cam surface 49 which serves to actuate the knife mechanism. Immediately the ticket feeding strip 42 has fed a ticket length forward, the said cam surface 49 engages a follower roller 69 on the bell crank lever 48 which operates the movable knife 47 in a cutting direction, and the first ticket length is cut off. Since the presser roller 52 for the cut-oif ticket 58 is carried by the movable knife 47 the dwell of this cam 49 is made sufiiciently long, e. g. about 75 rotation, to enable the ticket to be fed into the delivery member 53. When the cam 49 leaves the follower 69 the movable knife 47 is returned by spring means 70 and upon re-engagement of the clutch cage abutment 28 with the cam stop 27 on bell crank lever 25 the movement ceases, until operation of the switch 7 by a further sack again energises said solenoid 8 and initiates a fresh operation.

The length of the delivery member 53 will in general be such that when the first ticket 58 is cut off upon the first sack entering the sewing head and actuating the machine, such ticket 58 will be delivered to the sewing head and stitched into the outside of the sack being closed. It will be apparent, however, that the machine can very easily be primed by actuating the said switch 7 two or three times at short intervals so as to feed a supply of cut off tickets 58 into the delivery member, which tickets will then be delivered singly to successive sacks being sewn since the delivery member 53 is only driven in response to a sack entering the sewing head. Each ticket so delivered will be replaced by a fresh ticket cut ofi the ticket strip 39 as a result of each actuation of the said solenoid 8.

' It will be understood that we have only described one embodiment by way of example of a machine according to this invention, and variations and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus for instance other types of clutch 6 mechanism or actuating mechanism may be employed. Furthermore whilst cut off tickets are fed to the delivery member by rollers one of which is carried by the knife member, such one roller could be independently mounted and spring loaded into contact with its cooperating roller.

I claim:

1. An attachment for a sewing machine for closing and sewing the open ends of filled bags or the like and wherein the filled bags progress along a predetermined path to said sewing machine, the attachment comprising; means for supporting, feeding, and cutting strip material into tickets of predetermined length, elongated delivery means for delivering a cut ticket from said cutting means, drive means for actuating said feed means, cutting means, and delivery means through one cycle of operation, and control means adapted to be positioned in said path for actuation by a bag approaching said sewing machine to initiate a cycle of operation of said drive means, said elongated delivery means including a plurality of endless belts having adjacent parallel runs, said delivery means being mounted to position one end thereof to receive the leading end of a ticket at said cutting means between said runs, the other end of said delivery means being positioned to deliver a ticket from between said runs to a position to move through said sewing machine with a bag.

2. An attachment as defined in claim 1 wherein said drive means comprises a single shaft and driving connections from said single shaft to said feeding means, cutting means and delivery means.

3. An attachment as defined in claim 1 including advancing means for engaging and advancing cut tickets from said cutting means to said delivery means.

4. An attachment as defined in claim 3 wherein said advancing means includes a driven roller having a portion aligned with said runs, said cutting means including a movable member carrying a roller arranged to engage a ticket cut by said cutting means and move said cut ticket into engagement with said portion of said driven roller as said ticket is cut.

5. An attachment as defined in claim 1 wherein said endless belts are of a length to receive and advance a plurality of cut tickets, said drive means being arranged to drive said delivery means to deliver a single cut ticket in each cycle.

6. An attachment as defined in claim 1, said attachment having a frame and said one end of said delivery means adjacent said cutting means being pivotally mounted for pivotal adjustment of said frame to adjust the position of delivery of tickets from the other end thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 852,663 Igou May 7, 1907 1,518,551 Allatt Dec. 9, 1924 2,313,433 Golden Mar. 9, 1943 2,539,627 Kindseth et al. Jan. 30, 1951 2,701,013 Klasing Feb. 1, 1955 2,791,422 Baer May 7, 1957 

